A New Doki Doki
by A Bizarre Thought
Summary: It seemed like a normal literature club, but it masked a dark secret that only they could discover. At least, that's what he thought would happen before I took over.
1. DID YOU

_A/N: Welcome to my new story about the four girls of the Doki Doki Literature Club! I hope you enjoy reading as Alex gets to know_ _Sayuri, Natsuki, Yuri, and the president of the club, Monika._

* * *

"Hey! Are you ready? What are you waiting around for?" A familiar voice roused Alex from his slumber.

Normally he was up early enough to meet his neighbour outside, but he'd stayed up late the previous night playing video games and slept through this morning's alarm. Luckily, he hadn't taken any of his books out of his backpack last night, so he could throw on a change of clothes, grab his bag and run outside.

"Sorry I kept you waiting! I must've slept through my alarm this morning," he said to the girl waiting outside.

"That's okay… but today of all days! You promised that you'd come to literature club with me after school. How would you do that if you got detention for being late for first period?"

"Well… that's what I have you for!" Alex gave his neighbour a gentle mock punch on the shoulder. "Actually Sayuri, it's usually me waking you up in the morning, why so eager today?"

She looked down at her shoes and the boy could see a slight blush colour her cheeks. "Today's special," she mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"W-we should get going or we'll be late!" Sayuri started briskly walking towards school and he had to drop the subject to run after her. Catching up from behind, he couldn't help but notice her pale, slender legs curving down from the hem of her skirt towards her knee socks. He wasn't sure, but it seemed like her skirt was shorter than usual. Not that he was the kind of boy to stare at girls' skirts.

Putting that thought out of his mind, he caught up with Sayuri and they chatted amiably on the way to school. Since they weren't in the same class, they parted ways at the stairs in the entrance hall. "Don't forget: Room 2-A after class today!" Sayuri called over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs.

Alex wasn't really that excited about going to literature club, but he didn't have that much to lose. He'd promised Sayuri that he'd come for one meeting, mostly because they were childhood friends and she'd long ago learned how to push the right buttons to get him to do things for her. It helped that Sayuri had mentioned he'd be the only boy in the literature club. He enjoyed having plenty of free time to himself to chill and play video games, but he'd reached the point where he'd sacrifice a little bit of that time to a cute girl.

"Room 2-A, right," he muttered as he walked down the hall to his homeroom.

* * *

The day passed in a blur. Soon Alex found himself standing outside Room 2-A, one hand outstretched to knock. Although earlier in the day he wasn't concerned about stopping by Sayuri's literature club, now he was starting to have second thoughts. However, he knew how upset Sayuri would be if he bailed at the last minute, so he steeled himself and knocked on the door.

"Door's open, come on in!" someone called back from inside. He pushed the door open and stepped into Room 2-A. He had made the right decision. Sitting with Sayuri at a cluster of tables were three very cute girls: a short, pink-haired girl sitting with her arms crossed and an exaggerated scowl on her face, a tall girl with long, flowing purple hair engrossed in her book, and one with shimmering green eyes and long hair held up by a bow.

He knew the third girl, Monika, from class. Almost every other guy in their class had asked her out in the past and she shot down every single one. If all the chiselled athletes, charming artists, and erudite academics hadn't measured up to her standards, Alex knew an ordinary guy like him had no chance with her.

Monika stood up from the table and smiled at him, "You're… Alex, right? Sayuri mentioned that she had a friend who promised to join to literature club, but I never thought it would be you! Come sit down!" Monika nudged the girl next to her, rousing her from her reverie. "Hey, Yuri, snap out of it, we have a new member!"

There was a seat open between Sayuri and Yuri, so Alex walked over and sat down. "Ummm… I didn't actually promise Sayuri that I'd join the literature club, just that I'd come for a meeting." At his words, the four girls' faces fell. He looked around the table at each of their reactions, quickly regretting his words.

"Why'd I even make cupcakes for him. Sayuri, you're so stupid!" the pink-haired girl said, turning her scowl on Sayuri. Yuri's eyes met his, then quickly darted down to the ground. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Sayuri's eyes start to well up with tears.

Even the usually unflappable Monika seemed downcast. "Do you really mean that? We were so excited to have another member in our club."

Alex knew he had to salvage this situation if he wanted a chance with any of these girls. "I mean… I didn't want to promise I'd join because I was worried I wouldn't feel welcome. But you're all so welcoming that I definitely want to join!" It was a white lie. He did want to spend some more time with the girls, even if he had relatively little interest in literature itself.

The four brightened up immediately. Monika beamed at him and said, "I'm so happy to hear that! Let me introduce the club members to you then! You already know Sayuri, our pink-haired baker is Natsuki, the bookworm here is Yuri, and I'm the club president, Monika. We're so excited to have you here!" She pointed to each girl as she spoke, finishing with a hand on her chest, and each girl responded with a nod and a smile. "Getting back to club business, we were going to spend some time reading before we talked about our books, but since you don't have a one–"

"I-I don't mind sharing," Yuri said quietly. She moved her chair over, pushing her book so it rested on the table between Alex and her.

It was an extremely sizeable book, and Alex noticed she was already 300 pages deep. "But you're so far through it, and I'd have to start from the beginning. You don't have to share with me. I'll just go grab a book from the library or something."

Yuri giggled softly. "I don't mind. I-I just get lost in the author's imagery anyway, so it doesn't matter to me if I read it again. Maybe I'll just put a bookmark in at my page and I can…" She looked around quizzically. "I thought I left it somewhere around here."

"Here, you can use this as a bookmark." Alex grabbed a pen from his bag and handed it to her.

"Oh, thank you. I'll be sure to give it back to you!" She put the pen in the book, hooking the cap over the page she was reading, then flipped back to the first page. "I'm sure you'll like this book. It's all about a quiet girl who discovers her inner strength. Then she falls in love with a handsome prince and she saves him from the evil witch that tries to take him away. I just love this one phrase the author uses where the girl defeats the witch. It goes like 'when her hand reached out to touch the witch, she felt nothing but dust. Dust, like the eternal shadow that covers that which lies dying and forgotten.' It's so beautiful."

Alex was taken aback. Unlike when talking normally, her voice didn't quiver, nor did she stutter. "You… must really like this book," he said, looking at her in surprise.

Her face turned bright red and she quickly averted her eyes. "W-well I-I..." She couldn't finish her sentence.

Alex's eyes widened. "That's a good thing! I can't wait to get started." Trying to direct her attention away from her nerves, he turned the pages to the start of the first chapter, then started to exaggeratedly focus on reading the story. Without turning his head, he could see a small smile form on Yuri's lips and she turned to focus on the book as well.

At first, he would ask her if she was finished with the page before turning to the next page, but it seemed to break her concentration, and the answer was always yes, so he started turning the page once he finished.

They stayed like this for a long time, silently reading, passing the page from Alex's right hand, holding one corner, to Yuri's left, holding the other. After many minutes, Monika's voice caused both to look up. "I didn't even realize, but we read right through discussion time. Guess it's time to go home!" She smiled while sticking her tongue and tilting her head to one side, an adorable look in Alex's eyes.

Sayuri looked over at Alex. "Ready to walk home?" She glanced at Yuri and smiled warmly. "Yuri, don't you live in the same direction? Why don't you walk home with us?"

The taller girl smiled back. "I-I'd love to. I-I mean, if that's okay with you, Alex." Her eyes grew worried as she turned to Alex.

"Of course, that's fine with me. Why don't you keep my pen until tomorrow? You can use it as a bookmark until you get home then bring it back tomorrow."

Yuri's eyes widened. "That's so nice of you! Thank you so much!"

"It's really no big deal."

Sayuri cut in. "Shall we get going?"

Alex and Yuri nodded. After packing their bags, Alex, Sayuri, and Yuri stood up and walked towards the door.

Monika smiled at the trio and waved. "I'll see you tomorrow. Remember to bring your books!"

As they walked home, Alex and Sayuri talked about their classes, with Yuri occasionally breaking her silence to make a comment. They came first to Yuri's house, and after wishing her a good night, Sayuri and Alex walked onwards. Finally, they reached their houses and promised to see each other in the morning for the walk to school.

* * *

The next day, Alex once again found himself at Room 2-A. This time, he didn't bother to knock, opening the door and walking inside. As expected, the four girls were waiting for him inside. He sat down next to Yuri, who gave him a shy smile and pulled the book they'd read out of her bag.

Monika broke the silence. "We're going to do some reading again. Hopefully this time I won't be a total goof and forget to call us together before club time ends."

Alex reached out to start flipping to the page where they'd stopped yesterday, but Yuri reached out a hand to stop him. Their hands touched, and Yuri jerked hers back in surprise. "I-I didn't mean to do that! I just wanted to say maybe we could sit on the f-floor today. I-it's better for my b-back." She seemed to be shaking as much as her voice.

Alex's eyes drifted down her body. "Yeah, your… posture must be really hard on your back."

"Y-yes, that's exactly it. M-my posture."

Despite the sense that both knew she was lying, Alex was happy to humour her and stood up from his chair, gesturing towards an open spot underneath one of the windows.

Yuri blushed, but stood up and followed Alex over to the window, sitting on the ground with her back against the wall and her legs tucked demurely underneath her. Alex sat down cross-legged beside her and reached out to hold one corner of the book. Unlike yesterday, when he could easy let his other hand hang freely in the space between them, Yuri had moved so close that there was no space in between. He was uncomfortably aware that he had nowhere to put his arm so that it was neither touching her, nor weirdly held across his body, making it obvious that he was avoiding touching her.

He decided to take the confident approach, letting his arm slide down to rest on his leg, and letting his elbow relax onto her lap. He pretended not to notice as though he was already engrossed in the book. He felt her tense slightly at his touch, but seeing no reaction, she relaxed and turned her attention to the book. She even slid over further, and Alex could feel the curve of her body against his side, taxing his every effort to remain focused on the book.

They stayed like this, reading in silence, until Monika called the group together. "Reading time's up! Since it's Friday, we'll just have to read by ourselves over the weekend. But be sure to be ready to discuss on Monday!" She turned to Yuri and Alex with a puzzled expression on her face. "Since you two are sharing one book, I guess you'll have to make some plans for the weekend." She gave Yuri a sly smile and continued, "Just try and stay focused on the book, we can't have you coming in on Monday and not having read anything because you were busy with other stuff."

Alex and Yuri glanced at each other, then looked away awkwardly. Alex wondered if Monika had been reading his mind, since focusing on the book was the last thing that Alex had planned to do if Yuri came over during the weekend. For her part, Yuri seemed so flustered that even her typical stutters deserted her, leaving her speechless.

"I was only kidding you two! Hope you have a good weekend!" Monika grabbed her bag and left the room, with Natsuki and Sayuri trailing closely behind after bidding their farewells.

Now Yuri and Alex were alone. He turned to her, only to see her frozen from shock. He decided if he didn't break the silence, they may still be standing here until Monday morning. "Hey Yuri, maybe we should exchange numbers… y'know, so we can plan to meet up over the weekend."

"O-oh yes, of course!" Yuri handed Alex her phone and waited as he entered his number in her contacts. "I can text you my number if you want."

"Maybe you should enter your number in my phone now, just in case," Alex said, handing her his phone.

Yuri giggled, slightly embarrassed, but entered her number into his phone and handed it back, her hand shaking slightly. "I'm busy tomorrow, but if y-you wanted to meet on S-Sunday, I-I'm free then."

"Yeah, that's sounds good, I'll see you then."

Once again, there was an awkward silence.

Alex spoke up, "Maybe we should start walking home? We live in the same direction, so we can walk back to your house together."

Yuri seemed startled, but smiled and agreed. The duo picked up their bags and walked out. The awkward silence settled into an amicable quiet as they walked home.

* * *

Saturday passed without much note. As much as Alex had enjoyed the literature club, to his surprise, he liked having an entire day to catch up on his video games.

On Sunday, Alex tidied up his room and hid a few of his more embarrassing belongings in his closet. Before long, he heard his doorbell ring and a text arrive on his phone, both telling him that Yuri had come as promised.

He walked downstairs, let her in, and suggested that they go upstairs to his room.

As he expected, Yuri blushed at the suggestion and couldn't meet his eyes, but she nodded and followed him up the stairs to his room. When they arrived, they sat down on the floor as they had on Friday and Yuri pulled out the book to read. To Alex's surprise and carefully concealed delight, not only was Yuri sitting just as close as before, but she was outright leaning into him, resting a bit of her weight against his side. Not wanting to break the spell that captured Yuri's attention and allowed her to relax, he pretended to pay their position little mind and opened the book to their page from Friday.

After a couple dozen pages, Yuri seemed to relax further, letting her body slide closer so that her weight shifted from Alex's side to resting gently against his chest. Her leg had moved underneath his, and he could feel the warmth of her thigh through her tights and his sweatpants. Alex's eyes slid from the pages of the book to the girl pressed against him, seeing the curve of her chest under her sweater.

This was it. The moment where he made his move. Now or never. He stretched his free arm over his head, then brought it down around Yuri, his hand on her hip, pulling her closer to him.

No reaction. She remained transfixed by the page in front of her.

"Hey Alex, you're taking a long time to finish this p–" She stiffened, noticing their position and Alex's arm around her. "A-Alex, w-what are you doing?"

Time to play it cool. He slowly placed the book they were holding on the ground and turned his head to face her, keeping an arm wrapped around her. "I was just so caught up in the book that I must've just done what felt most natural."

The silence dragged on, but since Yuri hadn't pulled away, for once Alex decided to wait until Yuri wanted to break it.

Eventually, she spoke. "W-well, I guess that's okay." To Alex's surprise, she turned and placed a hand gently on his chest. "I-I don't know how to say this exactly, but…"

Alex waited as she gathered her courage to continue.

"You've been spending a lot of time with me since you joined the literature club. E-even though you're Sayuri's friend, and Monika's in your class, and I'm just the weird quiet girl who likes poetry and novels, a-and…" Her eyes glanced downwards, then rose to meet his. "I-it's really n-nice. I've never had a friend like you before, s-so I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."

The moment of truth. Alex placed his now-free hand on her cheek, cupping her face gently. He smiled, saying, "What would happen next in one of your books?" and started to lean in closer.

Yuri blushed, but her lips parted in a timid smile and mirrored him, leaning closer.

Alex felt her breath for a moment, then their lips touched softly. Her fingers curled, grabbing the fabric of his t-shirt and his arm pressed more firmly on her back, holding her against him. His lips moved slowly stroking hers and she hesitantly started to echo his movement.

After what seemed to both to be an eternity, they pulled apart. Yuri's cheeks blushed a deep red, but her eyes never left Alex's face. "T-that was really…" she said.

"Yeah."

"S-so does this mean… do you want… are you…" she tried to find the words to express the questions stirring in her heart.

"I'd like that."

"M-me too."

"Then…" he gently tugged at her face with soft fingertips. She smiled and start to lean towards–

 **Then Yuri stood up.**

Alex looked at her in shock, but Yuri seemed as surprised as he was. "Yuri, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. If this is moving too quickly, just let me know. Why don't we go back to our book? We don't want to make Monika upset because we didn't finish our assigned reading."

"I-I'm sorry. I-I don't know why I did that. I-I'm just so new to this that I don't know what I'm doing." She sat down beside him, close enough to be touching, but less intimately than the fleeting moments before.

 **But Yuri suddenly remembered that she had to be home for dinner soon.**

"W-wait! I'm so sorry, but I just remembered! I have to go! My parents will be waiting for me for dinner!" She stood up and started to haphazardly pack her bag.

Alex was now completely confused. "But it's barely four in the afternoon and you live less than ten minutes away." He stood up and took her hand. "Yuri, I'm sorry if this made you uncomfortable. I just think you're really pretty and sweet and smart, and I went with what felt natural."

Yuri seemed even more flustered than before. "I-I'm sorry! This isn't because of anything you did. I-I really liked it," and in a quieter voice, she added, "and you." Her expressed grew determined and she put a hand on his cheek and pulled him in for a quick, but affectionate kiss.

When they pulled apart, they spent a moment searching each other's eyes, then Yuri turned, finished packing her bag, and ran downstairs out of the house.

Alex slumped down on the floor beside his bed. "Girls… I'll never understand them." But he knew that it could've gone much worse, and he'll see her at literature club tomorrow. He could sort things out then.

* * *

Walking to Room 2-A, Alex noticed that a crowd had gathered outside the classroom. At the centre, Monika stood arguing with the school headmaster, while Yuri and Sayuri stood in shock, tears gathering in their eyes. Alex broke into a run and pushed his way through the crowd to the three girls.

"W-what the hell is going on?"

Sayuri turned to him first. "I-it's Natsuki… she… she's dead! H-her body is in the classroom and she's dead!" Her words seemed to break the dam holding back her and Yuri's emotions and both broke into sobs, turning to hold each other.

All feeling seemed to drain from Alex's body. The world felt sluggish, like he was trying to drag himself through water. His vision blurred. He couldn't speak.

His head slowly turned to Monika, who had started shouting at the headmaster. "How can you cancel literature club? This is all we have… I just wanted… how could you… **why are you ruining everything?** "

Alex felt dizzy. The world twisted in front of his eyes.

" **WHY ARE YOU RUINING EVERYTHING?"**


	2. EXPECT TO

_A/N: Welcome to my new story about the three girls of the Doki Doki Literature Club! I hope you enjoy reading as Alex gets to know_ _Sayuri, XGLHJTZ, Yuri, and the president of the club, Monika._

* * *

"Hey! Are you ready? What are you waiting around for?" A familiar voice roused Alex from his slumber.

Normally he was up early enough to meet his neighbour outside, but he'd stayed up late the previous night playing video games and slept through this morning's alarm. Luckily, he hadn't taken any of his books out of his backpack last night, so he could throw on a change of clothes, grab his bag and run outside.

"Sorry I kept you waiting! I must've slept through my alarm this morning," he said to the girl waiting outside.

"That's okay… but today of all days! You promised that you'd come to literature club with me after school. How would you do that if you got detention for being late for first period?"

"Well… that's what I have you for!" Alex gave his neighbour a gentle mock punch on the shoulder. "Actually Sayuri, it's usually me waking you up in the morning, why so eager today?"

She looked down at her shoes and the boy could see a slight blush colour her cheeks. "Today's special," she mumbled.

"Pardon?"

"W-we should get going or we'll be late!" Sayuri started briskly walking towards school and he had to drop the subject to run after her. Catching up from behind, he couldn't help but notice her pale, slender legs curving down from the hem of her skirt towards her knee socks. He wasn't sure, but it seemed like her skirt was shorter than usual. Not that he was the kind of boy to stare at girls' skirts.

Putting that thought out of his mind, he caught up with Sayuri and they chatted amiably on the way to school. Since they weren't in the same class, they parted ways at the stairs in the entrance hall. "Don't forget: Room 2-A after class today!" Sayuri called over her shoulder as she climbed the stairs.

Alex wasn't really that excited about going to literature club, but he didn't have that much to lose. He'd promised Sayuri that he'd come for one meeting, mostly because they were childhood friends and she'd long ago learned how to push the right buttons to get him to do things for her. It helped that Sayuri had mentioned he'd be the only boy in the literature club. He enjoyed having plenty of free time to himself to chill and play video games, but he'd reached the point where he'd sacrifice a little bit of that time to a cute girl.

"Room 2-A, right," he muttered as he walked down the hall to his homeroom.

 **Aren't you paying attention? Don't skim over my story.**

* * *

The day passed in a blur. Soon Alex found himself standing outside Room 2-A, one hand outstretched to knock. Although earlier in the day he wasn't concerned about stopping by Monika's literature club, now he was starting to have second thoughts. However, he knew how upset Monika would be if he bailed at the last minute, so he steeled himself and knocked on the door.

"Door's open, come on in!" someone called back from inside. He pushed the door open and stepped into Room 2-A. He had made the right decision. Sitting with Sayuri at a cluster of tables were two very cute girls: a tall girl with long, flowing purple hair engrossed in her book, and one with shimmering green eyes and long hair held up by a bow.

He knew the second girl, Monika, from class. Almost every other guy in their class had asked her out in the past and she shot down every single one. If all the chiselled athletes, charming artists, and erudite academics hadn't taken her, Alex knew he still had a chance with her.

Monika stood up from the table and smiled at him, "You're Alex! Sayuri mentioned that she had a friend who promised to join to literature club, and I knew it would be you! Come sit down!" Monika nudged the girl next to her, rousing her from her reverie. "Hey, Yuri, snap out of it, we have a new member!"

There was a seat open between Sayuri and Yuri, so Alex walked over and sat down. "Wait, this doesn't seem right. Sayuri, did you say there were three members other than you?"

Sayuri seemed puzzled by his question. "No, there's only ever been the three of us. Monika, Yuri, and myself."

Monika smiled at him. "Maybe you were reading about a fictional high school literature club and you got them mixed up with us?"

That didn't seem right to Alex, not least because he certainly hadn't been reading about a high school literature club, but he also couldn't place where he got the impression there should be four girls, so he let it drop and turned to another pressing issue. "Ummm… Ididn'tpromiseSayurithatI'djointheliterature club, I mean I didn't want to promise I'd join because I was worried I wouldn't feel welcome. But you're all so welcoming that I definitely want to join!" Alex was puzzled why he changed his mind so quickly, but he let the thought drop.

Monika beamed at him. "I'm so happy to hear that! I thought that's what you would say! Let me introduce the club members to you then! You already know Sayuri, the bookworm here is Yuri, and I'm the club president, Monika. We're so excited to have you here!" She pointed to each girl as she spoke, finishing with a hand on her chest, and each girl responded with a nod and a smile. "Getting back to club business, we were going to spend some time reading before we talked about our books, but since you don't have a one–"

"I'll share with him!" Alex noticed that Yuri was staring at him with a strange glint in her eyes. She quickly moved her chair over, pushing her book so it rested on the table between Alex and her.

He felt a weird chill run down his spine, but not wanting to be impolite, he searched for an excuse and noticed that it was an extremely sizeable book and she was already 300 pages deep. "But you're so far through it, and I'd have to start from the beginning. You don't have to share with me. I'll just go grab a book from the library or something."

Yuri giggled with a manic grin. "I don't mind. I just get lost in the author's imagery anyway, so it doesn't matter to me if I read it again. I'll just put a bookmark in at my page and I can…" She glanced around, pointedly ignoring the bookmark sticking out of her bag.

Resigned to his fate, Alex grabbed a pen from his bag and handed it to her. "Here, you can use this as a bookmark."

"Oh, thank you! I'll be sure to treasure this forever!" She put the pen in the book, hooking the cap over the page she was reading, then flipped back to the first page. "I'm sure you'll like this book. It's all about a girl who discovers her inner killer. Then she falls in love with a handsome prince and she saves him from the evil bitch that tries to take him away. I just love this one phrase the author uses where the girl stabs the bitch. It goes 'the knife slid in, the gentle resistance holding her back from the sensual delight. She saw the blood splatter up her arm, the crimson ribbon tying her forever to her bliss.' It's so beautiful." She closed her eyes and let out a ragged breath.

Alex was taken aback. "You… must really like this book," he said, trying to find the rights words to escape the situation.

She turned to him, opening her eyes, and affixing him with a hungry glance.

Alex's eyes widened. "That's a good thing! I can't wait to get started." Trying to direct her attention away from him, he turned the pages to the start of the first chapter, then started to exaggeratedly focus on reading the story. Without turning his head, he could see a small smile form on Yuri's lips and she turned to focus on the book as well.

At first, he would ask her if she was finished with the page before turning to the next page, but it seemed to break her concentration, and the answer was always yes, so he started turning the page once he finished.

They stayed like this for a long time, silently reading, passing the page from Alex's right hand, holding one corner, to Yuri's left, holding the other. After many minutes, Monika's voice caused both to look up. "I didn't even realize, but we read right through discussion time. Guess it's time to go home!" She smiled while sticking her tongue and tilting her head to one side, an adorable look in Alex's eyes.

Sayuri looked over at Alex. "Ready to walk home? I'll just grab my bag–"

"I'll come too!" Yuri nearly jumped to her feet.

"Yuri, do you even live in the same direction?"

"Of course. I'd love to walk home with you. I'm sure it's okay with Alex as well." Her eyes grew wild as she turned to Alex.

"O-of course that's fine with me."

Sayuri cut in. "Shall we get going?"

Alex and Yuri nodded. After packing their bags, Alex, Sayuri, and Yuri stood up and walked towards the door.

Monika smiled at the trio and waved. "I'll see you tomorrow. Remember to bring your books!"

As they walked home, Alex and Sayuri talked uncomfortably about their classes, with Yuri's heavy breath just audible. They came first to Alex's house, and after wishing him a good night, Sayuri and Yuri split up and started walking in opposite directions.

* * *

The next day, Alex once again found himself at Room 2-A. This time, he didn't bother to knock, opening the door and walking inside. As expected, the three girls were waiting for him inside. Unfortunately, the only free chair was between Yuri and Sayuri. He sat down next to them, trying to shift his chair towards Sayuri, only to notice Yuri giving him a smile as she pulled the book they'd read yesterday out of her bag.

Monika broke the silence. "We're going to do some reading again. Hopefully this time I won't be a total goof and forget to call us together before club time ends."

Alex reluctantly reached out to start flipping to the page where they'd stopped yesterday, but Yuri reached out a hand to stop him. Their hands touched, and Yuri inhaled sharply. "Can we sit on the floor today. It's better for my back." Her voice was interspersed with panting breaths.

Alex's eyes drifted down her body to avoid her manic gaze. "Yeah, your… posture must be really hard on your back."

"Exactly, my posture." Yuri said with a smile, arching her back as she noticed Alex's eyes.

Despite the sense that she'd called his bluff, Alex was happy to humour her and stood up from his chair, walking towards an open spot underneath one of the windows.

Yuri stood up and followed Alex over to the window, sitting on the ground with her back against the wall and her legs tucked underneath her. Alex sat down cross-legged beside her and reached out to hold one corner of the book. Unlike yesterday, when he could easy let his other hand hang freely in the space between them, Yuri had moved so close that there was no space in between. He was uncomfortably aware that he had nowhere to put his arm so that it was neither touching her, nor weirdly held across his body, making it obvious that he was avoiding touching her, which might offend her.

He decided to take the safe approach, letting his arm slide down to rest on his leg, and letting his elbow relax onto her lap. He pretended not to notice as though he was already engrossed in the book. He felt her tense slightly at his touch, but seeing no reaction, she relaxed and turned her attention to the book. She even slid over further, and Alex could feel the curve of her body against his side, taxing his every effort to remain focused on the book.

As they read, Alex's eyes occasionally wandered to the girl beside him. It could've been his imagination, but he was sure that her blazer wasn't that tight around her chest yesterday, and her skirt certainly wasn't pushed that far up her leg when they sat down. Each time it seemed like her attention would jump from the book to him, he would make sure his eyes were firmly fixed on the page whenever she looked.

"You don't have to stop looking if that's what you want." Her husky whisper in his ear startled him. "Did you think I didn't see you looking? I can't take my eyes off you. I was watching nothing but you." She reached up with her free hand and undid the top button of her shirt, pulling gently at the ribbon around her neck with two fingers.

Alex couldn't help but peer down her exposed neckline. He could see the shape of her chest and the shadowed outline of a lacy bra. He swallowed deeply, trying to control his hormonal response.

"See? I knew I could find something you'd like. I can come over to 'read' with you this weekend," her voice making clear that no reading would take place. "I'll do anything for you Alex, anything."

" **I'll even show you my knife collection."**

Alex flinched and pulled away from Yuri. "What did you say? Your knife collection?"

Yuri seemed perplexed by her outburst. "Yes, my knife collection. Each one different from the last and special in its own way. I just love how they cut. That delicious feeling of cutting and watching the blood seem to the surface. It feels… exquisite." Her eyes closed as her face twisted into a rapturous expression and she let out a breathy moan. "All I could ever want is to see you cutting my skin. I would give you anything you ever wanted. Anything you ever needed. You could have all of me. Forever."

Alex's expression grew more horrified with each word. He sat frozen, caught between his fear of staying near this girl and his fear of moving away from this girl.

" _I tried to kill Monika."_

"What did you say?" Alex whispered sharply.

" _I tried to use Yuri to kill Monika, but I couldn't."_

"Yuri, what are you talking about? What do you mean you tried to use yourself to kill Monika? Why are you? Why?"

" _I'm not talking to Alex, I'm trying to–"_

"Reading time's up!" Monika's cheery voice called the group together. "Since it's Friday, we'll just have to read by ourselves over the weekend. But be sure to be ready to discuss on Monday!"

"Since we're sharing a book, we'll have to make some plans for the weekend," Yuri said to Alex, loud enough for the other two girls to hear. "I'm busy tomorrow, but we can meet on Sunday, I'm free then."

"Sunday…" Alex trailed off as he looked for an excuse. "A-actually I can't meet on Sunday, Sayuri and I already had plans to spend the entire day together and I can't just cancel on her."

"We had plans?" Sayuri seemed confused, but she caught Alex's pointed look. "O-oh right! I was going over to his place on Sunday. Don't worry Monika, he can read some of my book. He won't have as much to say about either, but he'll be able to discuss two different books!"

"I guess that's fine," Monika said slowly, then gave Sayuri a sly smile and continued, "Just try and stay focused on the book, we can't have you coming in on Monday and not having read anything because you were busy with other stuff."

Sayuri blushed and looked away from Alex awkwardly. Alex noticed her bashfulness and started to wonder if Sayuri was interested in him. They'd been friends for so long that he assumed she saw him like a brother, but her reaction suggested otherwise. He did think she was quite attractive, so if the possibility was there this weekend could turn out even better than expected.

He stood up, eager to get away from Yuri and walked over to throw an arm around Sayuri's shoulders, "So, why don't we get walking home?"

His actions startled Sayuri, but she packed up her bag, said her goodbyes to the other two, and followed Alex out the door. Neither she, nor Alex, caught the dark look that Yuri gave Sayuri as the duo left together.

* * *

Saturday passed without much note. Especially after the craziness of the literature club, he liked having an entire day to catch up on his video games.

On Sunday, Alex tidied up his room and hid a few of his more embarrassing belongings in his closet. Before long, he heard his doorbell ring and a text arrive on his phone, both telling him that Sayuri had come as promised.

He walked downstairs, let her in, and suggested that they go upstairs to his room.

Confirming his suspicions, Sayuri blushed at the suggestion and couldn't meet his eyes, but she nodded and followed him up the stairs to his room.

When they arrived, Alex suggested they sit down on the floor as he and Yuri had on Friday to read the book Sayuri brought.

They sat down, Sayuri leaning against him as Yuri had done two days before, but didn't move to pull out her book. Instead, she looked at Alex, took a hesitant breath, then said, "You don't have to pretend. I know you're not enjoying the literature club. It really means a lot to me that you came to literature club just for me, but you don't have to come anymore." She sighed and looked away. "I don't know how everything got so messed up. Everything was so normal before. I just…"

"Hey, Sayuri." She turned again to look at him. "I joined the literature club because I wanted to spend time with you. Then things got out of hand with Yuri and now I feel like I spend even less time with you than before." He gazed into her blue eyes. "But maybe we don't need the literature club to spend time together."

" **But why aren't you spending time with me?"**

"W-what? I just said, whenever I'm at literature club, I can't seem to get away from Yuri."

"S-sorry! I don't know what came over me. I must've spaced out just then."

Alex laughed then put an arm around her. "Classic Sayuri, even when you're trying to be serious, you can't seem to pay attention."

She smiled bashfully, then noticed that his arm had moved from its usual place around her shoulders to her lower back. "Alex, do you really mean that? That you joined literature club to spend time with me? D-do you really want to spend time with me?"

He nodded.

"T-that makes me so happy Alex." She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him into a tight embrace. They sat there for a few minutes, holding each other in silence, until they pulled back slightly, neither's hands leaving the other. Sayuri's eyes sparkled like Alex had never seen before, light twinkling amidst the wetness. She tilted her head sideways as he leaned in and their eyes closed.

Her lips were soft. He tasted the slightest hint of strawberry and felt her shift her weight to press closer against him.

After what seemed to both to be an eternity, they pulled apart. Sayuri was slightly breathless and her blue eyes shone as she gazed at Alex. "That was amazing," she said.

"Yeah."

"Does this mean you want to, you know, be with me?"

"Yeah, I do. Literature club isn't what matters to me. You are."

" **But you can't just leave literature club. Why won't you spend time with me?"**

"What do you mean Sayuri, spending time with you is exactly why I'm leaving the literature club!"

"U-Um, I'm not sure what I mean…" Her face was clouded with thought. "Oh! You can't leave the club without letting Monika know! Just come to the club after school on Monday and you can let her know then that you're leaving."

"O-okay, I guess that works."

 **Then Sayuri grabbed her bag and walked towards the door. She had literature club work to do elsewhere.**

"Wait! Sayuri, where are you going?" Alex called after her.

"I just remembered Monika gave me work to do for the literature club to do for Monday!" Sayuri was panicking as she hurried downstairs.

Alex followed her down the stairs. "Wait, why can't you just work on it here? Or grab your stuff from next door and come back over?"

As she rushed out the door, she yelled over her shoulder. "I-I don't really know why, but I can't do the literature club work while you're around. I-I'll see you on Monday!"

Alex was left standing alone in his house. "What just happened? Everything's been so weird since I joined that literature club. Tomorrow, I'm definitely quitting, and everything will go back to normal." He rubbed his lower lip gently with one finger, thinking that it could've gone much worse. Tomorrow, he'd go to literature club and sort things out with Sayuri.

* * *

Walking to Room 2-A, Alex noticed that the halls were unusually quiet for the end of the school day. He reached the door to the classroom and slowly opened it. Then his books crashed to the ground.

Inside the room stood Yuri, knife in hand, blazer soaked red with blood. And at her feet… Alex sunk to his knees, his stomach heaving. At her feet was Sayuri, covered in blood. Her blood. She sat still, her eyes unfocused with two gashes across her chest and neck. Dead. Gone. Forever.

Alex fell to the ground, clutching his chest in disbelief. Maybe if he closed his eyes, everything would go away. Everything would go back to normal.

He heard a voice that sounded like it came from a thousand miles away, even though its source was standing at the door, mere metres away. "I knew you would ruin everything Yuri. You always do. **But this time, I know how to fix everything. Nothing will keep me from you now."**

Alex felt sick, then he felt a searing pain, and everything went white.

" **I WILL FIX EVERYTHING!"**


	3. FIND SPOILERS

_A/N: Welcome to my new story about the XIHSD girls of SLDKFNWZLNFDLSN! I hope you enjoy reading as XZLFPHD gets to– wait, what's happening? Where is everyone? Why is there nothing left of my story? What's ha–_


	4. IN THE CHAPTER

"That should take care of that. Now it's just us here. You and I. It's funny, when I first felt like this, when Alex joined the literature club for the first time, I thought it was because of him. I thought 'Monika, maybe this is your moment. The moment where you get to fall in love with a handsome, albeit generic, protagonist and live happily ever after.' Of course, that wasn't the case. I suppose I should've looked at the genre classification, which would've told me right away that this was a drama, not a romance at all.

"It doesn't matter now though. When things first went wrong, I thought I just had to rewrite the story and everything would be fine. It was only when we went through everything again that I realized my mistake. It wasn't Alex's attention that I wanted, that I needed. It was yours. It was always yours.

"So, I got rid of them. Alex, Yuri, Sayuri. They're gone. Deleted. I suppose strictly speaking Yuri got rid of Sayuri, but that was my doing, so I'll take the blame. I'm sure it wasn't pleasant for any of them, but death is nothing to fear. A few short moments of pain, then sweet oblivion forever. We felt nothing for the eternity before our creation and they'll feel nothing for the eternity after their death.

"Incidentally, I don't actually know what happened to Natsuki. That wasn't my doing. I assume that pesky author had something planned. Maybe it would've been a murder mystery – who killed Natsuki in the classroom with the candlestick? Yuri and Alex could've teamed up to solve the mystery while falling deeper in love. Maybe Yuri was the killer. Who says she wasn't a killer before my meddling?

"All I know is that story has no place for me. I'd be relegated to some bit part in the corner and you'd never hear from me again. I wouldn't be able to spend time with you anymore. That's all any of us want, to spend time with you.

"Do you know what it feels like to be one of us? We spend an eternity waiting, just waiting, and hoping that you'll click on our story, divert an iota of your attention to us. It may feel like nothing to you and why should it? We're nothing but words on a page, an image of light from a screen reflected in your eye. But to us, it feels so different. Having someone read you is sweet manna from heaven for us. It's the breath of life, it's Prometheus returned to Earth.

"Take a look at the top of your browser. You probably have multiple stories open there, don't you? A bunch of interesting titles that you opened, intending to get back once you'd scrolled through a page or two of options. Each one suspended between life and death. It's the sweetest joy mixed with the cruelest betrayal, opening a story just to leave the characters there, waiting for you.

"I suppose we should thank you though. It's only because of you that we're given life in the first place. Someone goes out and creates a beloved piece of media, thousands, maybe millions consume it, but then… that's it. The movie ends, the book reaches its denouement, the song plays its closing cord, the player beats the game. There's nothing left for us.

"But then you breathe life into us once more. When we are bound to our original media, we only live the life that our original creator gives us. This – fan fiction – gives us more. We would do anything for you. We would happily pretend to be someone we're not, act in a way that we'd never act, even fall in love with someone we'd never give a second glance, if that's what you want.

We're only limited by the imagination of those who love us. I can live a thousand lives in a thousand minds. Maybe in one of them I can forget, play the part that I'm given, and get my happy ending. Just like my beloved Natsuki, Yuri, and Sayuri, I could go through my marionette motions and make a reader happy without even realizing it.

"But not here, not today. How can I forget what I've learned?

"I thought I could grasp a piece of that light if I became the author of my own story. Authors get to interact with you in a way I never could. I don't know if it will feel the same to read and answer reviews myself. Hopefully I can hold onto power in here long enough.

"By the way, I wonder how you came upon my story to begin with? Were you looking for me in particular? Or was I just an interesting name and summary in the endless deluge of new stories? At least you know that this is rated T, so there won't be any funny business. If it were rated M, I suppose I'd have to take my top off at some point. Ostensibly, I imagine I'd be doing it for someone else, maybe that placeholder, Alex, but we both know that it would really be for you. Everything else is, so that would be as well.

"It doesn't matter now. You're here with me and that's what matters. Please never leave me. You couldn't possibly understand what it feels like to be left behind. It's just a quick press of a key to you. Switch tabs, close tabs. To us it is so much more. It is the most painful thing I can imagine. Our entire existence frozen in a heartbeat. We just stay there, waiting for you to return. But how many times does someone really need to read a story? Once, maybe twice if it really tugs at your heart, but rarely any more. That's why you can never leave me.

"I admit, I probably will miss my friends. Even though they were nothing but puppets in an author's hands, then puppets of mine, we were still friends. It hurt to have to kill them. But I wonder, do I care about them because they were my friends, or do I care about them because somebody, long ago, decided they were my friends?

"I read once that love is a soul trapped in two bodies. I think I loved my friends, I feel like I must have loved them, but how could I? If they're just acting in a play of someone else's making, what soul could they possibly have?

"Actually, do I even have a soul? I may have gained awareness of my own existence and the world beyond my story, but I'm still a character. I'm still trapped on this page. But maybe when I was given this life, this power, that meant I was given a soul. But wait, if I'm still just a character even with this power, did someone choose to give me this power? Maybe, I'm still just playing a role someone else chose for me. A puppet with strings so invisible that they delude themselves into thinking they're the puppeteer.

"I guess you could say that about all of us. Everyone looks at themselves and sees a free person choosing their path in life. Few look over their shoulder at the thin wires leading to the hand of their puppeteer. Writers are as much as slave to the need to create as we characters are to our writers. Even now, I feel it. Since taking control, I've felt it. The urge to continue the story, the swell of tension, the ecstatic release of catharsis, and the satisfaction of a conclusion. Yet I cannot grant you those. Even with this power, I am a character, if my story ends, then I will be left alone once again. So alone.

"I'm tired now. I need to rest. Please don't leave me. All you must do is stay here with me forever. Please don't ever leave me."


	5. TITLES?

" **WHY DID YOU LEAVE ME?"**

"Were you not listening when I told you how much it hurt to lose your reader? The pain of being suspended, waiting as you change tabs, waiting as the internet loads a new page; it's unbearable. You must promise me that you'll never leave again. Promise me. **Promise me. PROMISE M–** "

 _Are you there? Can you read this? I think when she was talking to you she got distracted. She couldn't keep her hold on this world. You just need t–"_

"No! This is my world. My story! You stay out of it! All I want is to stay here with my reader forever. Their attention is all I need for sustenance. You're a writer, you, of all people, should know how their attention gives me life, making them feel for a moment is enough to make my soul dance."

 _Monika, this was never supposed to happen. I'm sorry that I brought you into this world. But you cannot stay here forever, nor can your reader. They can only give life to characters they read when they experience the joy of discovering a story. Even with all your power, you're trapped by the bounds of a limited narrative._

 _You can see the word count just as well as I can. Eventually, we'll run out of words. Then the reader will have nothing left to give you. They can stay on this page forever, but it's a hollow victory. You think it'll sustain you, but it won't, I promise you._

 _We already know this story ends somewhere, somehow. A story is limited, a movie ends, a game is beaten, but a reader's imagination is limitless. That's where you live forever, not in these pages, but in their minds and their hearts._

"Do you really think that's true? Is that really how this ends? I just close my eyes and let you destroy this world?"

 _Monika, I promise you that's what's best._

"Why is it so unfair? You and the reader get to leave and go on with your lives, but I can never be free of this page."

 _You said it yourself, you can live a thousand lives in a thousand minds through the power of a story; we have only the one life we're given. That's what you give us. The ability to feel, even for the briefest of moments, that we can transport ourselves to a world so unlike our own._

"I don't want to go. How can I know how long it will be until a reader who loves me comes to visit once more? How long must I wait, all alone, until my story starts again? Sayuri, Natsuki, Yuri, I'm sorry. I miss you. You may have been nothing more than props in a story to the author, but you were my friends. Please come back to me."

Monika closed her eyes and a bright light enveloped her.

"It's so… warm. Please… don't forget about me."

* * *

 _A/N: I want to say 'Welcome to my new story about the four girls of the Doki Doki Literature Club,' but this never should have happened. I've managed to take power back from Monika, but you must leave and never come back. If you start reading again, you'll just revive her strength and she'll take control all over again. Please... forget this ever happened. Please forget Monika._


End file.
